(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a separate LED lamp tube, and more particularly to a separate LED lamp tube whose driving module or light-emitting module can be independently replaced or repaired and a light source module formed therefrom.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
With the continuing development and progress of science and technology, electronic products and electronic components more and more tend to be lightweight and compact. The foregoing electronic components, such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs), have been gradually applied to lighting equipment because they have the advantages of compactness, power saving, long life, environmental friendliness, and so forth. Although the predicament of insufficient light-emitting luminance has once appeared in the early stage of the development of LEDs, the breakthrough on materials and technologies in recent years has significantly improved and increased the luminous efficiency of LEDs, even comparable to the luminance of traditional lighting equipment. Hence, they gradually tend to substitute current lighting equipment.
Conventionally, a LED lamp tube that uses LEDs as lighting equipment, as shown in FIG. 1, mainly comprises: a tube body 11, a light-emitting module 12, a drive circuit 13 and two electrical contacts 14. The light-emitting module 12 is accommodated within the tube body 11. The light-emitting module 12 comprises a circuit board 121 and a plurality of LED lamps 122. The LED lamps 122 are disposed on and electrically connected to the circuit board 121. The drive circuit 13 is accommodated within the tube body 11 and located on the circuit board 121. The drive circuit 13 is electrically connected to the circuit board 121 by soldering. The two electrical contacts 14 are respectively sealably coupled to the both ends of the tube body 11. The two electrical contacts 14 are also respectively electrically connected to the drive circuit 13 by soldering. Thus, the LED lamp tube is formed.
However, a prior art lamp tube still has the following shortcoming impractical use. The service life of the drive circuit 13 is generally about 20,000 hours and that of the LED lamps 122 is about 50,000 hours. Therefore, the drive circuit 13 is liable to be damaged earlier than the LED lamps 122 after the LED lamp tube has been used for a long time. Furthermore, the drive circuit 13 is permanently electrically connected to the circuit board 121 of the light-emitting module 12 by soldering, and the two electrical contacts 14 are respectively sealably coupled to the both ends of the tube body 11. As a result, when the drive circuit 13 is damaged, it is impossible to simply replace or repair the drive circuit 13. The entire LED lamp tube must be discarded. This would cause unnecessary cost consumption.